


The Doors of Opportunity

by Tish



Category: Drop the Dead Donkey
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-20
Updated: 2008-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1630925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tish/pseuds/Tish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex and Helen share an unusual oasis amid the chaos of the Globelink news team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doors of Opportunity

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Gwenhwyvar

 

 

Helen, in a state of semi-organised chaos, managed to reach the lift just as the doors closed. Stifling a scream of frustration, she repeatedly bashed the side of her fist against the button as the floor numbers blinked above her. Papers started to slide out her folder. She wasn't having a good day so far and muttered curse words to the lift. After an ice age, the lift creaked back to her and she stomped inside, groaning as she tuned and saw the trail of papers. "Oh bloody hell!" she moaned, dashing back to retrieve them. Her back turned, the lift silently took the chance to escape. "Shit. Bloody buggery bastard!" Helen fumed.

"Henry Davenport, you haven't changed a bit!" came a woman's voice.  
Helen, still scrambling with the papers, looked up, taking special notice of the woman's long, slim legs and rather short skirt. She frowned, "Wha-? Don't I know you? Alex, isn't it? I was the mug who replaced you."  
Alex smiled as Helen got up, "How long's it been now? You get less for manslaughter."  
Helen scowled, "I'd like to manslaughter this lift, followed by select members of the Globelink News team..." she added a final jab to the lift button.

"Gus still firing on all cylinders down the news autobahn, then?" Alex asked with a sardonic smile.  
"He's still mad as a mongoose, yes," Helen groaned, before brightening.  
"Anyway, what brings you back?"  
"We've just finished filming a piece on Haskell's down the road. I thought I'd pop in for old time's sake."  
"See the animals in the zoo," laughed Helen.  
"Yes, and how is Dave these days?" Alex snorted.

Helen sighed, "Bloody lift. Shall we take the stairs?"  
"Joy always threatened it with violence. Worked every time," Alex laughed.  
"There's still a dent in the door from the last time she kicked it, you know," Helen mused.  
Almost sheepishly, the lift arrived and the door slid open. Helen let Alex walk inside first, catching a delicious hint of perfume as the taller woman passed by.

Alex hit a button and the door creaked shut, then the lift slowly started to ascend. Very slowly. Alex leant against the wall, "Have you ever thought of leaving here, Helen?"  
Helen looked wistful, "I'm always keeping an ear out for anything better. Henry walked out once on the promise of a job. Turned out to be a case of revenge served cold."  
Alex cocked an eyebrow, "Hmmm, I heard about that. Henry shagged the man's wife 30 years ago, didn't he? He might be pleased to know that last year, she left her husband," a meaningful pause, "for another woman."

Helen glanced up, a laugh covering her nervousness. She stopped, why the hell was she nervous? She never felt the need to hide her sexuality completely, yet she felt apprehensive. Alex hadn't noticed anything, or she seemed not to. Instead she was frowning at the floor numbers. "I think we may be stuck. Look, both three and four are lit up." Helen gawped up at the display, realising that the lift, barely moving to begin with, had indeed stopped.  
"Knackered!" growled Alex, jabbing at the buttons.

Henry pressed the lift button yet again, accompanied by a different swear word in a different language every time. A figure appeared next to him, the figure was Dave and he wore an expression of shock. Henry thumped the lift door, "Sodding lift, dunno what's the matter with it. _Or you_ , for that matter. Get a look at Sally's underwear, dear boy?"  
Dave shook his head, "You know that accumulator I put on this morning? All six came in. That's over five thousand squid!"  
Henry grinned, "So, you going to treat your nearest and dearest to a night of booze and women?"  
A sheepish look from Dave signalled the answer would be _no_ , "Well, I owe Chainsaw Pete almost six thousand..."  
A nod from Henry, "Fish supper and a pint, then?"  
"Best I can manage, Henry. Lift's buggered, can you manage the stairs?" Dave grinned.  
"Cheeky sod! I'll carry you on my back!" laughed Henry, leading the way.

Helen inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled. Alex noticed Helen's face had become paler. "You okay, Helen? You're not claustrophobic, are you?!"  
Helen shook her head, "No. Phew, just felt a bit too warm. Nothing really..."  
"Soon be out," Alex smiled as she pressed the emergency button, calling into it, "Hello? Our lift's stuck, can we have some help, please?"  
No answer. Alex sighed, trying again, "Hello? Hello? Oh bollocks!" She kicked the door in frustration, the metallic clang echoing up and down the left shaft.

Down in the lobby, Gus jabbed at the lift button. He checked his watch for the third time in a minute and tried to remember the chapter on Time Micromanagement For Busy Executives In A Hurry To The Top Floor. _Lift yourself above all, elevate your mind above the rabble and the doors of opportunity will slide open for you._ Sweat broke out on his upper lip as the doors resolutely stayed shut. The next chapter, The Stairs To Success seemed a more likely prospect, and he decided to apply the theory to an action strategy.

George was on his way down the stairs, having decided in a fit of paranoia to avoid the lift that day. It had been taunting him for the past week and he thought it best not to push his luck with it, especially given the clangs and thuds he'd just heard it make. An uncomfortable feeling in his intestines flared up and he thought it best to go find a toilet. Better safe than sorry, he thought, opening the door.

"Someone'll notice and get some help," Helen said, possibly more to reassure herself than anything. "It's not like we'll be here all night, is it?" Her laughter came out a little forced.  
Alex smiled, "It'll be fine. While we're here, we might as well make ourselves comfortable, get to know each other." She sat down, her long legs straight out.  
Helen sat down too, laughing as her legs stopped long before Alex's.  
"Do you find that men are intimidated by your height?" she asked, intrigued. It gave her an excuse to watch Alex's legs for a bit longer.  
"Some get off on it, actually. There's the odd one who suffers from Short Man Syndrome, but with a lot of men, there's that glint in their eye. Kinky gits!" she snorted, then her voice softened. "As for women, that's a different matter."  
Helen stayed silent for a moment, sometimes she was sure she was reading more into conversations that were actually there. Other times, she was certain of her gaydar. Today, there was an unusual amount of interference; her uncertainties multiplied. She was about to ask Alex something, when a loud thud echoed around the lift, accompanied by a stream of invective, "Fucking heap of shit Dalek lift!"

Alex threw Helen a smile and laughed, "Joy! We're stuck in here, get some help!"  
Joy's voice drifted back, a bit calmer, "Alex? What you doing here?"  
"Not a lot at the moment. Helen's in here as well," Alex replied.  
A plastic ruler appeared near the roof in the gap between the doors, "Can you see that?"  
Helen stood up, "Yes! We must be halfway between a floor."  
Joy was crouched down, forcing the door open a crack, "Yeah, looks like the top of the lift is about one and a half feet above the floor, if that makes sense? I'll go get some help."

Alex smiled, "Speak of the Devil."  
"Hmm?" frowned Helen.  
Alex nodded up at the door, "Intimidating men. That's Joy's hobby, isn't it?"  
As Helen laughed, she felt the stress of being stuck in a lift lessen. Alex was still smiling, "You know, it could have been worse. Imagine being stuck in here with Sally!"  
Helen laughed harder, "That's a fate worse than death!"  
"No, being stuck in a lift with Gus is a fate worse than death," Alex grimaced. Helen cringed, unwittingly moving closer to Alex. The fact that Alex hadn't flinched or moved away didn't mean anything, Helen had to remind herself.  
"Of course, on tv, being stuck in a lift with someone means shagging them before they get out. Dave would love to have been stuck in a lift..." Alex tailed off, caught in her thoughts.  
Helen's face went pale again and she squeaked involuntarily.  
Alex stared at her, "You sure you're okay?" Then realisation struck, "Oh my God! You did it with Dave, didn't you?"  
Helen couldn't speak, only nod in reply.  
"In a lift?" Alex gasped.  
"No! It was just, oh I don't know..." Helen put her face in her hands, mortified.  
Alex stared at Helen, before placing a hand gently on her arm and then taking a deep breath, "A Christmas party. I wasn't planning on getting pissed, but I did. Dave was Father Christmas and he ended up giving me a ride on his North Pole. It was the worst night of my life. Of course he managed to brag about it to everyone as well."  
Helen looked up, and they stared each other for a moment before they broke into laughter. Helen barely noticed Alex's arm go around her waist, but leaned into the other woman's body. Being stuck in a lift wasn't such a pain as she first had thought.  
They sat together in silence for a few more minutes, rousing at a tapping on the door.

Dave's voice rang out, "Helen? You okay in there? Joy's on the phone and threatening violence against the lift company. Someone'll be round soon."  
Helen and Alex exchanged a look and a smile as Alex called out, "Hello, Dave. Been a long time, hasn't it?"  
There was a silence, then an incredulous, "Alex? Wow. Er, hi! Um, how you been?"  
"Not bad, what about you, still shagging temps?"  
A bellowing laugh from Henry drowned out any reply from Dave, "Alex, my dear girl, when you get out of this Dave is going to treat you two to drinks and-"  
He was cut off by a cry from Dave, "Henry!"

Up in the newsroom, Sally moaned as she pulled her shoes off, massaging them. Damien sneered as he walked by, "You've only come up one flight of stairs, woman!"  
"Yes, but in these heels! It's simply not good enough," Sally sniffed.  
"I might abseil down the building, quicker than walking and ten times the thrill," Damien mused as he looked out the window, avoiding Joy on the phone as she illustrated a threat with some scissors.

Still settled against each Helen, Alex dabbed at her brow and undid a button on her shirt. She pursed her lips then asked, "Excuse my directness, but I thought you were a lesbian, yet you slept with Dave. Are you bi then?"  
Helen blushed, hissing, "He can hear us!"At Alex's grin, she caught her meaning and grinned, "Well, he's got a very small penis, so I suppose that counts as sleeping with a woman."  
Henry's loud laugh and Dave's hurt cry of, "I heard that!" caused a fresh peal of laughter from the women.

Joy trudged down the stairs and glared as Dave stomped back up them, muttering about treacherous women. He wasn't being consoled by Henry's rejoinder that he did actually have quite a small penis.  
She rolled her eyes and tapped on the lift door, "Someone will be here in half an hour. Just in time for the bulletin breakdown. Lucky you."  
Helen sighed, "Thank you, Joy. You're a treasure! No need to babysit us, go have a break."  
Joy was tempted to retort, _yeah, an underpaid treasure_ , but decided against it, giving the door a friendly rap-a-tap-tap as she left.

"Alone at last," Alex murmured.  
"Half an hour. Shall we play _I Spy_?" Helen smiled.  
Alex looked at her watch, shaking her head. She turned to face Helen, "Why don't we pretend to be on tv."  
It took a few moments for her words to sink in before Helen gasped and blinked. This time she didn't blush, instead slipping a hand inside Alex's shirt and kissing her. Alex's hands were roaming Helen's body, slowly drifting down.  
"Get ready to press the button to go all the way to the top floor!" Helen murmured, her lips close to Alex's.

 


End file.
